By Paul Page

XPO Logistics Inc. may be getting more attention on its warehouse operations than the company bargained for. Nearly 100 Democratic lawmakers are calling for an investigation into working conditions at company sites after allegations of worker mistreatment, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Jennifer Smith writes, including hazardous workplaces and pregnancy discrimination. The call by lawmakers follows media reports focusing on complaints of mistreatment at warehouses in Memphis, Tenn., that XPO operates on behalf of customers including Verizon Communications Inc., Walt Disney Co. and Cummins Inc. The reports highlight the growing focus on tough working
conditions at warehouses that has come as logistics hiring has soared and delivery demands have put more pressure on distribution operations. XPO says it has an independent investigator looking at the allegations, and the company says it has updated its policies on pregnant workers and family leave.

Hyundai Merchant Marine Co.’s path back to prosperity is getting more perilous. The South Korean flag carrier is preparing to leave its place in a powerful shipping alliance with its plan for recovery still unsettled and its role in future trade lanes uncertain. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Costas Paris writes the container shipping line is operating under government pressure to show progress after several years of state aid. HMM’s place in global shipping trade remains one of the unresolved issues left from the recent industry downturn that helped crush fellow South Korean carrier Hanjin Shipping. Pushing away from the 2M shipping alliance partners A.P.
Moeller-Maersk A/S and Mediterranean Shipping Co. may bring more independence, but HMM’s debt is still ballooning as it prepares to acquire 20 new megaships. The vessels will expand the line’s capacity and some analysts believe it will also enlarge the carrier’s financial problems.

A Hyundai Merchant Marine ship in Busan, South Korea/BLOOMBERG NEWS

E-Commerce

The cost of shipping online purchases could rise in a big way. A Trump administration review is proposing sweeping changes at the U.S. Postal Service, the WSJ’s John D. McKinnon reports, including shifts in operations and pricing that could raise alarm bells at companies that ship commercial packages. The report requested calls for raising prices for many types of commercial deliveries, saying the postal parcel business has “not been priced with profitability in mind” because it doesn’t capture the real costs of delivery. Raising those prices would hit squarely at Amazon.com Inc., which sends big parcel volumes through the USPS network, and could also
raise costs for the broad array of retailers whose digital strategies often push more boxes onto postal vans for delivery to customers. Private carriers also use the postal services for last-mile delivery, but they aren’t shy about raising rates to offset higher costs.

Transportation

Maersk Line is sending a new environmental warning shot across the shipping industry. The world’s largest container shipping company is pledging to its cut net carbon emissions to zero by 2050, telling the Financial Times that it wants its entire supply chain, including engine makers, shipbuilders and technology providers to come up with carbon-free ships by 2030 to meet the goal. It’s an ambitious target in a shipping industry that is wrestling with a mandate to sharply slash sulfur emissions by 2020. That plan has carriers clashing with customers over the costs of compliance and shipping companies testing different methods, including the use of
“scrubber” exhaust systems, to meet the targets. Maersk Chief Operating Officer Soren Toft says the company has no special technology in mind to meet a zero-emissions goal but that breakthroughs are needed over the next decade to reach the target.